After Years Of Being Forgotten, These Canine Veterans Finally Get The Life They Deserve

Two army veterans were recently reunited after one of them had been forgotten for nearly 3 years.

Army Specialist Vance McFarland spent every day of his tour in Afghanistan with Ikar, a bomb-sniffing dog. When Vance’s tour was over, Ikar’s was not. The two were forced to part.

Vance said:

“When we walked off the plane at Fort Bragg, I had Ikar for long enough for them to take a picture before they took him away from me and sent him back to go back through the TEDD program and back to Afghanistan.”

But Ikar never re-entered the program. Instead, he, along with 11 other bomb-sniffing dogs, were taken to a kennel. The kennel was to be a temporary home while the pups waited for a private contracting company to find new assignments for them. The company never came back for them.

But the owner of the kennel didn’t abandon the dogs. He cared for them and eventually, along with Mission K9 Rescue, helped them to reunite with their fellow soldiers.

Watch Vance and Ikar’s story below:

A fellow bomb sniffing dog named Donna was reunited with her soldier this week, as well. Check out their happy reunion:

Sadly, one reunion never came to pass. Army SPC Jake Carlberg spent every day after his tour of duty looking for Abby, a Golden Retriever. Tragically, Jake died in a car accident earlier this year. But Abby will still be with Jake in some way, as she now lives with his family, which includes two children.

You can see a bit of Abby’s story, as well as the story of Army Staff Sergeant Alex Brown and his dog Giluk, below:

Greg Meredith, who runs Mt. Hope Kennels, cared for the dogs for years at his own expense. While others may have forgotten them, he loved them as his own. There is currently a GoFundMe page to help reimburse him for his expenses.